Lesley Raven

Lesley Raven is a textile artist and design educator with interests in community arts and health, reflected by fine art study at the Royal College of Art and occupational therapy qualification, participation in social-community artist-in-residencies; project management within Widening Participation and current doctorate study at Staffordshire University.

Lesley’s work encompasses both design & fine art outcomes. As a freelance textile designer she has created hand-felted fashion accessories for export to Japan and commercial retail and exhibition in UK galleries and stores, as well as working collaboratively with diverse communities and schools making large-scale drawings, felted tents and decorative pieces for public display, working most recently for the Children’s Museum London and the Bromley-by-Bow Centre.

Lesley’s art work is influenced by dichotomies of abstract and representational imagery, seeking to capture moments in time and highlighting the beauty inherent in the everyday that are often ignored. She is also interested in concepts of playfulness and flow states and how to facilitate these for herself and others. Techniques of working include collage, blind-contour drawing, machine stitch and embroidery, tapestry weaving, felt-making and print making.